Women win Penn Relays DMR

Sheila Reid had not yet won at the Penn Relays in her Villanova career. The watch given to winners at the signature track & field event in Philadelphia at Franklin Field had eluded her until this Spring. On the first day of the event that goes through the weekend, that trend changed as the Villanova women's Distance Medley Relay team took the lead and gave Reid her watch with a time of 11:03.01.

The team did it with splits of: Emily Lipari (3:22.9), Christie Verdier (52.8), Nicky Akande (2:04.5), and Sheila Reid (4:40.8).

They won the signature event for the first time since 2006. Tennessee lead for a stretch, but finished second in 11:03.53, and Penn State came in third in 11:08.41.

There were loud cheers from the crowd as the Wildcats took their victory lap after the race. Villanova track and field has always performed well at the Penn Relays and fans showed up to see it, especially for Sheila Reid as she wraps up her dominant college career on the Main Line.

Reid took over on the final leg on the race, building a comfortable lead over the field and cruising down the final 50 meters to the finish.

Villanova won the DMR event at the Penn Relays from 1987-91 and three of four between 1994-97.